Television habits in relation to overweight, diet and taste preferences in European children: the IDEFICS study

Abstract

Early television exposure has been associated with various health outcomes including childhood obesity. This paper describes associations between patterns of television viewing, on one hand, and diet, taste preference and weight status, on the other, in European preschoolers and schoolchildren. The IDEFICS baseline survey was conducted at examination centers in Italy, Estonia, Cyprus, Belgium, Sweden, Germany, Hungary, and Spain. 15,144 children aged 2–9 completed the basic protocol, including anthropometry and parental questionnaires on their diets and television habits. A subsample of 1,696 schoolchildren underwent further sensory testing for fat and sweet taste preferences. Three dichotomous indicators described: children’s habitual television exposure time; television viewing during meals; and having televisions in their bedrooms. Based on these variables we investigated television habits in relation to overweight (IOTF) and usual consumption of foods high in fat and sugar. A possible role of taste preference in the latter association was tested in the sensory subgroup. All television indicators were significantly associated with increased risk of overweight, with odds ratios ranging from 1.21 to 1.30, in fully adjusted models. Children’s propensities to consume high-fat and high-sugar foods were positively and, in most analyses, monotonically associated with high-risk television behaviors. The associations between television and diet propensities were not explained by preference for added fat or sugar in test foods. To summarize, in addition to being more overweight, children with high-risk television behaviors may, independent of objectively measured taste preferences for fat and sugar, passively overconsume higher-fat and particularly higher-sugar diets.

Evaluation of Children’s Lunch Box Contents by Photograph and Their Relationship with Mothers’ Concern

“…Kristiansen et al (2013) suggested that a higher academic background of the parents was associated with a smaller amount of time spent watching TV; lower frequency of watching TV in the child's bedroom; greater amount of exercise; consumption of more fruits and vegetables, fewer sweets and less soft drinks and fast food and with more regular meals. Children's propensities to consume high-fat and high-sugar foods were positively associated with high-risk television behaviours (Lissner et al, 2012). Our previous study suggested that children's preferences were related to enjoying the school lunch (Osera et al, 2014).…”

Chemical and non-chemical stressors affecting childhood obesity: a systematic scoping review

“…However, these types of studies lack definite conclusions regarding cause and effect. 46,117,140,[181][182][183][184] On the other hand, while longitudinal studies follow children for a period of time, these types of studies may be limited by the use of retrospective data, parent-based reporting, limited measurements of other covariates, imperfect or missing measurements of confounders, gaps in data reporting, or selection bias. 165,185,186 Crosscomparison studies may prove difficult due to varying study designs and ages of the children.…”

Sensory taste preferences and taste sensitivity and the association of unhealthy food patterns with overweight and obesity in primary school children in Europe—a synthesis of data from the IDEFICS study

“…In another approach, we calculated the propensity of children to favourably consume sweet or fatty foods in order to investigate the association between overweight, TV consumption and the adherence to an unhealthy food pattern [15]: The weekly consumption frequencies of each of 17 foods and beverages that are high in fat and of 12 foods and beverages with high sugar content were calculated for each of these categories. The other 14 items of the FFQ were also converted into weekly frequency scores.…”